2.1. Studies on fossil pollen
Marine palynology in general, is a yang branch of research. Jan Muller was probably the first in science who linked pollen and spore distribution in marine surface sediment samples to the modern vegetation in his study on sediments from the Orinoco delta (Muller, 1959). In Indonesia, compared to the terrestrial studies, the number of publications on marine sediment records is still limited;
especially it is true for the studies related to the Anthropocene and investigations of the pattern of modern pollen distribution.
In the study area, the first work on the marine palynomorphs apparently was the study undertaken by I. Van Waveren (1989) who focused on the palynological residues of the surface sediments from the Banda Sea. In that paper, ‘a series of 27 palynomorph types are described and informally categorized’ (Van Waveren, 1989). The author indicated a high plankton production and high sedimentation rate, although the paper does not contain any analysis of palynomorphs.
First analytical works and reconstruction of the past vegetation and climate for Indonesian region were published just in the beginning of 90s (Van der Kaars, 1991, 1989; Barmawidjaja et al., 1993;
Van Waveren, Visscher, 1994). The authors indicated the practicality of marine palynology in the reconstruction of the history of this region.
2.1.1. Mid-Holocene (ca 7000 – 4000 cal yr BP)
Warmer periods from 6300 to 6000 yr and after 4000 yr, were evidenced in the coral records from the southern periphery of the IPWP, along with evidence for freshening after 4000 yr, indicating a stronger monsoon (Gagan et al., 1998; Stott et al., 2004; Abram et al., 2009). The Banda Sea records, including pollen and coccoliths, show a significant shift in the position of the monsoon around 6000 yr, suggesting low-latitude insolation forcing (Beaufort et al., 2010). Wang et al. (2007) indicated the warm phase between 7000 and 3600 yr BP as well.
45 Reeves et al. (2013) in their review on the vegetation and climate change of the region also referred to the thermal maximum of IPWP 6800-5500 yr BP and less extreme El Niño at about 5500-4300 yr Peak wet conditions achieved about 5000 yr in Borneo. Additionally, some drier conditions were indicated there.
2.1.2. Late Holocene (ca 4000 cal yr BP to the present)
Ganssen et al. (1989) indicated increased monsoonal intensity at about 2700 yr, while later, between 2500 and 1700 yr; at about the same time extreme and longer El Niño events were recorded (Tudhope et al., 2001; Moy et al., 2002; Woodroffe et al., 2003; McGregor and Gagan, 2004; Gagan et al., 2004; Reeves, 2013). Coral reconstructions of ENSO for the past 1100 yr demonstrate the links between ENSO and changes in the mean climate of the Pacific region (Cobb et al., 2003). For Borneo, warmer and fresher period are indicated (Reeves et al., 2013) up to 2500 yr with some more extreme El Niño 2300-1700 yr, compared with present.
2.2. Palynological studies of marine surface sediments
According to the study on modern pollen distribution pattern in the surface sediments in the South China Sea off Borneo, we learned that pollen is mainly transported by rivers from the south islands, e.g. Borneo (Sun et al., 1999; Sun et al., 2003). Because of the long distance from the coast, pollen amount deposited in the modern South China Sea is very little (Wang, 2007).
Palynological analysis of box-core samples collected from surficial deep-sea sediments along three transects in the Banda Sea (Van Waveren and Visscher, 1994), demonstrated that ‘associations of palynomorphs, palynodebris and diffuse organic aggregates are mainly composed of terrigenous and zooplanktonic constituents’. Organic remains of phytoplankton and benthos attributed a subordinate role in the study area.
Pollen analysis on box-core sediment form the south-eastern Indonesian waters were presented by S. Van der Kaars (2001). The author described general trends in pollen transport and indicated that pollen and, at a lower rate, Pteridophyta spore tend to decrease with increasing distance from the shore line. Despite the complex nature of vegetation and pollen transport in the region patterns, it was evidenced during the research, that the onshore distribution of individual taxa and major vegetation types are well reflected in marine sediments. Low values of mangroves were indicated as
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their values within the source area tend to decrease with distance to shore (Muller, 1959;
Hooghiemstra et al., 1986; Sun et al., 1999; van der Kaars et al 2000, 2001; Sun et al., 2002). In our studies (Chapter 2) we described the similar trend.
2.3. Studies on dinocysts
Within the SE Asian region, a number of studies exists that dill with the composition of dinocyst assemblages in marine surface sediments. Some publications are available from the northern part of the Philippine Sea (Matsuoka, 1981), Bay of Bengal (Kumar, 1996), Manila Bay, the Philippines (Azanza, 2004), coastal waters of Sabah, Malaysia (Furio et al., 2006) along transect in oligotrophic tropical waters of the South China Sea (Kawamura, 2004).
In Indonesia, a number of studies on dinocysts are limited to only three studies. The investigation of in surface sediments of Jakarta Bay (Matsuoka et al., 1999) focused mainly on the patterns of the red tide dinoflagellates. The study on the stratigraphic distribution of dinocysts in the Tertiary of Indonesia, described two Oligocene surface sections in West Java. The first is the Batuasih Formation located near Cibadak, and the second is a section close to Padalarang where dinocysts were
‘abundant in phosphatic nodules, but are heavily affected by thermal metamorphism, past overheating of the section, in the claystones and sandstones’ (Morgenroth et al., 2011).
The most modern study was focused on the relationship between the spatial distribution of dinocysts and modern local environmental conditions (e.g. SST, SSS and productivity) in the eastern Indian Ocean (Hessler et. al., 2013). According to the composition of dinocysts, three environmental and oceanographic regions were described as a result of the last study. The first region located in western and eastern Indonesia and controlled by high SST and a low nutrient content of the surface waters.
The second, Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) region, is dominated by heterotrophic dinocyst species reflecting the region's high productivity. The third region is located offshore north-west and west Australia which is characterized by low STT, high SSS and high oxygen content in the water.
2.4. References
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Azanza, R.V., Siringan, F.P., San Diego-Mcglone, M.L., Yniguez, A.T., Macalalad, N.H., Zamora, P.B., Agustin, M.B., Matsuoka, K., 2004. Horizontal dinoflagellate cyst distribution, sediment characteristics and benthic flux in Manila Bay, Philippines. Phycological Research 52, 376-386.
47 Barmawidjaja, B.M., Rohling, E.J., Van der Kaars, S.A., Vergnaud Grazzini, C., Zachariasse, W.J., 1993.
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Beaufort, L., de Garidel-Thoron, T., Linsley, B., Oppo, D., Buchet, N., 2003. Biomass burning and oceanic primary production estimates in the Sulu Sea area over the last 380 kyr and the East Asian monsoon dynamics. Marine Geology 201, 53-65.
Beaufort, L., Van der Kaars, S., Bassinot, F.C., Moron, V., 2010. Past dynamics of the Australian monsoon: precession, phase and links to the global monsoon concept. Climate of the Past, 695-706.
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Furio, E.F., Matsuoka, K., Mizushima, K., Baula, I., Chan, K.W., Puyong, A., Srivilai, D., Sidharta, B.R., Fukuyo, Y., 2006. Assemblage and geographical distribution of dinoflagellate cysts in surface sediments of coastal waters of Sabah, Malaysia. Coastal Marine Science 30 (1), 62-73.
Gagan, M.K., Ayliffe, L.K., Hopley, D., Cali, J.A., Mortimer, G.E., Chappell, J., McCulloch, M.T., Head, M.J., 1998. Temperature and surface-ocean water balanceof the mid-Holocene tropical western Pacific. Science 279, 1014-1018.
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Ganssen, G., Troelstra, S.R., Fabar, B., Van der Kraas, S., Situmorang, M., 1989. Lata Quartenary palaeoceanography of the Banda Sea, Eastern Indonesian Piston cores (SNELLIUS-II Expedition, cruise G5). Netherlands Journal of Sea Research 24 (4), 491-494.
Grindrod, J., Moss, P., Van der Kaars, S., 1999. Late Quaternary cycles of mangrove development and decline on the north Australian continental shelf. Journal of Quaternary Science 14, 465-470.
Grindrod, J., Moss, P.T., van der Kaars, S., 2002. Late Quaternary mangrove pollen records from the continental shelf and deep ocean cores in the north Australian region. In: Kershaw, A.P., David, B., Tapper, T., Penny, D., Brown, J. (Eds.), Bridging Wallace’s Lines e the Environmental and Cultural History and Dynamics of the SE-Asian-Australian Region. Advances in Geoecology, vol.
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Hooghiemstra, H., Agwu, C.O.C., 1986. Distribution of palynomorphs in marine sediments: a record for seasonal wind patterns over NW Africa and adjacent Atlantic. Geologische Rundschau 75, 81-95.
Kawamura, H., 2004. Dinoflagellate cyst distribution along a shelf to slope transect of an oligotrophic tropical sea (Sunda Shelf, South China Sea). Phycological Research 52, 355-375.
Kumar, A., 1996. Palynology and palynofacies of recent marine sediments of the western flank of the Andaman Islands, Bay of Bengal. Geophytology 26 (1), 119-123.
Matsuoka, K., 1981. Dinoflagellate cysts and pollen in pelagic sediments of the northern part of the Philippine Sea. Bulletin of Faculty of Liberal Arts, Nagasaki University 21 (2), 59-70.
Matsuoka, K., Fukuyo, Y., Praseno, D.P., Adnan, Q., Masaki, K., 1999. Dinoflagellate cysts in surface sediments of Jakarta Bay, off Ujung Pandang and Larantuka of Flores Islands, Indonesia, with special reference of Pyrodinium bahamense. Bulletin of the Faculty of Fisheries 80, 49-56.
McGregor, H.V., Gagan, M.K., 2004. Western Pacific coral d18O record of anomalous Holocene variability in the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Geophysical Research Letters 31, L11204.
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Moss, P.T., Cosgrove, R., Ferrier, A., Haberle, S., 2012. Holocene environments of the schlerophyll woodlands of the Wet Tropics of northeastern Australia. In: Haberle, S.G., David, B. (Eds.), Peopled Landscapes. Archaeological and Biogeographic Approaches to Landscapes. Terra Australis, 34. ANU ePress, Canberra Australia, 329-341.
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Sun, X.-J., Li, X., Luo, Yu.-L., 2002. Vegetation and climate on the Sunda Shelf of the South China Sea during the Last Glaciation – Pollen results from station 17962. Acta Botanica Sinica 44 (6), 746-752.
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Van der Kaars, S., 1998. Marine and terrestrial pollen records of the last glacial cycle from the Indonesian region: Bandung basin and Banda Sea. Palaeoclimates: Data Modelling 3, 209-219.
Van der Kaars, S., 2001. Pollen distribution in marine sediments from the south-eastern Indonesian waters. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 171, 341-361.
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Van Waveren, I., Visscher, H., 1994. Analysis of the composition and selective preservation of organic matter in surficial deep-sea sediments from a high-productivity area (Banda Sea, Indonesia). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 112, 85-111.
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